


Steven Universe Farther into the Future ep 12: The Coming of the Bloodrose Brigade

by LMasterm1nd



Series: Steven Universe Farther into the Future [14]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Aliens, Crystal Gems, F/F, F/M, Heavy Metal Music, Investigations, Major Original Character(s), Movie Night, Reminiscing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:06:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23602795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LMasterm1nd/pseuds/LMasterm1nd
Summary: With Yellow Diamond and Pearl rescued, Steven and co. can now focus solely on the impending arrival of the Bloodrose Brigade. Meanwhile, Joshua helps former Gembuster, Margaret, adapt to life on earth. Rose and Selena meanwhile go on a date on Homeworld.
Relationships: Amethyst/Garnet/Pearl (Steven Universe), Connie Maheswaran & Steven Universe, Crystal Gems & Steven Universe, Greg Universe & Steven Universe, Mystery Girl/Pearl (Steven Universe)
Series: Steven Universe Farther into the Future [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1607287
Kudos: 10





	1. A Little Time To Rest

*Gembusters HQ, Somewhere in Deep Space* 

Nearly every Gembuster stationed at the Gembusters HQ was in the assembly hall, as the big screen lit up. The Prospector's face appeared on screen, with the pearls in his necklace in the background, shivering in fear, it was obvious to everyone watching that he had taken out some frustration on them. The Prospector himself however, appeared calm and collected, but the few moments of silence spoke volumes to everyone, everything was not fine.

"Fear not my Gembusters, I am not angry" The Prospector said "anger doesn't even begin to describe how I'm feeling! Why, it'd be an understatement to say that I am royally pissed off!" The Prospector slammed his fists on his desk. "Not only were there intruders on this ship, but gems and gem sympathizers!" The Prospector fumed "and not only that, they took Yellow Diamond, Yellow Diamond! We had her, captured, right here and they came and took her away and none of you did anything to stop them!" "But sir, we tried to look for them, but they were very good at hiding" One Gembuster chimed in. "They had a Diamond with them! Diamonds are huge, giant, how could you not see something that big!?" The Prospector snapped. 

"And to make matters worse, one of our own has gone rogue, Margaret, so if you see her, kill her" The Prospector continued "Do not disappoint me again, remember who it was who saved your ancestors when their home planet died, I have been like a father to all of you, so I suggest you obey me like good little children or else" 

* * *

"Thanks again for helping me clear out my storage unit, Piers" Greg said. "No problem Grandpa, how did this get so cramped, didn't you reorganize it already when my dad was a kid?" Piers answered. "Well, when I was a manager for Sadie and Shep, I collected a lot of memorabilia and Pearl didn't like me leaving it all lying around the house so I moved it all in here" Greg explained "and before you knew it, it got cramped again." 

Piers came across a box with the words "gifts from Steven" written on it. "Oh, you found that box!" Greg said "Man, I felt particularly guilty when I lost that in the clutter." "What are they?" Piers asked. "Well, when your dad was sixteen, he left Beach City and took a very long road trip that lasted a couple of years" Greg answered "and these are gifts he got me, Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl over the course of his travels." Piers rummaged through the box, it was mostly full of the type of things you'd find in any tourist attraction, postcards, miniatures of tourist attractions, and various other knickknacks representative of the places Steven had been too. But one thing caught Piers's eye, a CD. It had a picture of a Godzilla like monster on the cover and the title of the album was "I Am My Monster!" "Is this a heavy metal album?" Piers asked excitedly. Piers may not look like the type, but metal was his favorite genre of music. 

"Oh yeah, that, I'm against heavy metal but it's not really my type of music" Greg said. "Than why would Dad send you a heavy metal album if your not a fan of it?" Piers asked. "Check the back" Greg said. Piers turned the album around and saw a picture of the band on the back, the one on the middle left looked familiar...very familiar. "No way...is that...Dad!?" Piers exclaimed.

Steven took a sip of his morning coffee when all of the sudden he heard his son cry out "Daaaaaad!" "Whoa, what's up Piers?" Steven asked. "Dad, you were in a metal band!?" Piers asked. "Oh, hey, "I Am My Monster" this thing went platinum" Steven commented. "You were in a metal band, and you went platinum, Dad, this is awesome, why would you keep it secret!?" Piers exclaimed. "I didn't keep it secret, In fact, I have a photo of me on stage framed in me and your mother's room, I still get royalty checks for the songs I wrote" Steven said "Heck, one of my old bandmates stops by to visit every few months, you remember my friend Xander?" "Mr. Xander was in the band too!?...oh wait, actually that makes perfect sense the way he dresses" Piers said. 

"So, why did you stop?" Piers asked. "Well...you see, our original drummer got injured and we were looking for a replacement" Steven said "and the president of the record company suggested his own son, and we couldn't say "no" otherwise we'd lose our record deal, but he was just rather problematic and well he said a few things to me..." "What kind of things?" Piers asked. Suddenly he saw his Dad glowing pink, this seemed to only happen when he was feeling stressed. "I don't like to think about it" Steven said. "Dad, are you alright?" Piers asked. Steven stopped glowing "Yeah, anyways, the band broke up afterwards, we pretty much all hated our drummers replacement, your mother invited me to move into her apartment with her and afterwards we got married and then we had your sister, moved back to Beach City and then we had you and you know the rest" Steven said. 

"Do you ever miss it?" Piers asked. "Sometimes I do, we were doing pretty well before we broke up, we went from indie to mainstream over the course of two months, but I'm happy where I am right now." Steven said "now, I've got to get to work now, there are still Gembusters we need to find."

A few hours later, Steven and Connie were sitting at the breakfast table, discussing their search last night, Rose had decided to join them. "These Gembusters are tricky, they should be somewhere around the Beach City area" Connie said. "They can't be hiding in town, could they?" Steven said. "Didn't Joshua say that one of them looked like a big rock and the other looked like a chameleon?" Rose chimed in. "Yeah, what about it?" Steven asked. "Well, don't Chameleons camouflage? And the rocky guy could have disguised himself as a boulder" Rose suggested. 

Both Steven and Connie were stunned. Their daughter was right, normally her outside the box thinking doesn't prove to be helpful but this time Rose's unique mindset had come up with a solution Steven and Connie hadn't but should have considered. 

"They could have been in plain sight this whole time and we might not have known it" Connie said. "I think we better form a posse just in case" Steven said "they might attack us out of nowhere" Steven said "I'll go to Little Homeworld and see if anyone would like to volunteer."

end of chapter


	2. Adapting and Discovery

Meanwhile in town Pearl spotted Joshua with that rogue Gembuster, Margaret. "Oh, Joshua, what are you doing here with her?" Pearl asked. "I'm helping Margaret make friends" Joshua said. Margaret went up to a complete stranger and said out of the blue "You! Be my friend!" The stranger ran off screaming. "Dat was a little too direct, Margaret!" Joshua called out "as ya can see, it ain't baring fruit yet" "So...she's living with you!? Joshua, are you two dating?" Pearl asked. "What? No, we just live together" Joshua said. "So you two are just sleeping together then?" Pearl asked. "You know Gem-ma, two adults can live in the same place without there being the need to get intimate" Joshua pointed out. "Is that so? Because me and your mother get intimate quite frequently" Pearl said. "...I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that..." Joshua said "look, she had no place else to go, even though she tried to kill me, after what she went through with her dad, I couldn't just leave her alone"

"Oooh! Joshua, what's this establishment?" Margaret asked. "It's a toy store" Joshua answered. Margaret made a joyous sounding gasp as she gleefully rushed into the store. "It's odd to see a grown woman enter a toy store like that" Pearl said. "Eh, some adults like to collect toys...Mr. Ronaldo spends almost his entire life savings on them..." Joshua said "besides, I think a hobby might be da best way for her to adapt to her life on earth"

Margaret was looking around the toy store with absolute joy on her face. "Oh my gosh! I never had a toy before, can I get one for myself, please, please, pleeeaaaase?" Margaret asked. "I gave ya some spendin' money didn't I? There's no need to ask me like that, yer not six" Joshua said. "But...I am six" Margaret responded. "...excuse me?" A befuddled Joshua responded "You're joking, right?" "Nope, I was born six years ago" Margaret said. "Now that I think about it, her father was over nine feet tall and she is only five feet tall, she might be telling the truth" Pearl said. "Ya can't be serious, if she's actually a kid, that would mean I didn't invite someone to live with me, it means I adopted a kid!" Joshua argued. "I wasn't expecting a grandchild this early" Pearl teased. "I am so getting to the bottom of this" Joshua said

* * *

At the nearby hospital, Joshua took Margaret to see Dr. Maheswaran. Dr. Priyanka Maheswaran had become a specialist of gem-human hybrids over the years, a trajectory she had not expected her career to go, but had also yielded her much success, this was due in part to her initial physical examination of her now son in-law Steven Universe. Being the first specialist of gem-human hybrids had also made her a leading expert in the field. She had taught many lectures on the physiological studies of a hybrid, and how the gem affects their human bodies.

"Well, you're very lucky that her physiology was similiar enough to a human's, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to examine her" Dr. Maheswaran began. "How similar are we talkin' here?" Joshua asked. "Similar like how a dog's biology is to a wolf's or like how an alligator is similar enough to a crocodile" Dr. Maheswaran answered "now, back to the situation at hand, after a thorough physical examination...it would appear that Margaret is telling the truth...despite her height her body is very much like that of a six year old girl...and Pearl?" "Yes, Dr. Maheswaran?" Pearl responded. "You did say her father was nine feet tall, correct?" Dr. Maheswaran continued. "Yes...and from what I've heard, her father was a much weaker member of his species, so it could be that her and her father's species may have had larger specimens" Pearl said. 

Joshua sat down "Oh my god, I adopted a kid and I didn't even realize it" Joshua said "what do I do?" "Well, from what she told me, she has had a rough childhood so far, but her body is responding to stress normally, the best thing you can do for her is give her a supportive environment, where do you live currently?" "A warehouse I renovated into a home slash invention studio, I have her sleeping on the couch...but that was only last night that I took her in" Joshua explained.

"Well it's a start" Dr. Maheswaran said "much better by comparison to her original living environment, Pearl also tells me you've been helping her adapt to life on this planet, how is it going?" "To be honest, we just started this morning, I was helping her make a friend...we haven't made any success yet" Joshua said. "Developing social skills, that's actually a good idea" Dr. Maheswaran said "have you considered signing her up for school, this year?" "Won't the other kids make fun of her?" Joshua asked. "Given that gem hybrids go to school with full humans, I'm sure they'll think nothing of it...probably" Dr. Maheswaran.

* * *

At the Beach, Rose was excitedly leading her Girlfriend to where their date was going to be. "Oh, you're going to love where our date is going to be tonight!" Rose said. "Isn't this the way to your house? We had date night there before, not that I mind" Selena responded. "My house is just the first, stop, we're taking the warp pad to where our date is going to be" Rose said. Rose lead Selena through the beach house, music could be heard from Piers's room.

"Sounds like lil' bro is listening to his heavy metal albums again, I don't know what he hears in that music" Rose commented "most of those bands are just screaming into the microphone." "Not this one, I can make out the lyrics in this one" Selena said.

 _"Just run and hide, don't look inside, This is something I don't want you to see, I can't show anyone this side of me! I! Am! My! MONSTER! I! AM! MY! MONSTER! All chaos, no control! Mind being sucked into a black hole!"_

"The singer of this song kind of sounds like your dad" Selena commented. "Dad in a heavy metal band? Yeah, that'd be the day" Rose said with a snort "come on, it's right past my dad's old room." Rose led Selena to the Diamond Base atop the house. "Stand still, I'll let the warpy thing happen!" Rose instructed. With a flash of light Rose and Selena were off to their surprise date location.

"Here we are!" Rose announced. Selena couldn't believe her eyes, she was surrounded by gems, millions of them. "Tonight's date is on, none other than the Gem Homeworld!" Rose bragged. "Oh. My. Gosh! Now I know what you meant when you said tonight's date was going to be out of this world!" Selena said. Rose spotted a familiar pink gem. "Just one sec!" Rose said as she rushed over to give Spinel a hug. "Oh drat, you remembered to hug me" Spinel pouted "now I can't tickle you!" "No Spinel's law for me!" Rose cheered.

Spinel than noticed Selena. "Oh, I see you bought a guest with you, who is she, your girlfriend?" Spinel teased. "I am, actually" Selena said. Spinel looked to Rose, and Rose nodded. "Ah, darn, I can't even tease you if that's true, you used to be fun Rose" Spinel pouted. "Hey, I'm still fun!" Rose said. "Okay, yeah you are" Spinel admitted.

end of chapter 


	3. Learning about Steven's Metal Band.

Rose lead Selena into the Diamond Palace. Selena gazed in wonder at the size of the huge thrones at the end of the hall. She had met Rose's Great Aunt Yellow before, and she was huge. She was about to meet the rest of her girlfriend's relatives, she couldn't help but feel nervous, even the throne that once seated Rose's late grandmother was huge. Rose leaped up onto what was once Pink Diamond's. "Come on Selena, room for one more" Rose invited. "Are you sure I'm worthy enough to be sitting there? I'm not exactly a descendant of a diamond" Selena answered. 

"Come on, I am a quarter diamond and I order you to get your cute butt up here with me" Rose playfully commanded. "Now Rose, we don't do that sort of thing anymore, you know that" Blue Diamond chimed in. "Great Aunt Blue!" Rose shouted with glee. "It's wonderful to see you again" Blue Diamond said, lifting up Rose in her hand and nuzzling her "and I see you bought a guest with you, welcome to Homeworld!" "Thank you, Blue Diamond" Selena said with a bow. "There is no need for such formalities here Selena, we aren't all authoritarian anymore" Blue Diamond commented.

"In any case, do you mind checking in on Yellow, Rose?" Blue Diamond asked "She's not been herself lately, she assures me that everything is fine but I do worry about her." "No Problemo, come on Selena, let's go see Yellow!" Rose said. 

* * *

Back on Earth, Piers was showing his new discovery about his Dad to Alice. Alice was listening to the song through her headphones. "No doubt about it, that is definitely your Dad's voice" Alice commented "but the attitude and vocal mannerisms are just so different." "I know, right? It's like he had an on-stage persona or something" Piers said. "Well maybe that's it, some rock stars adopt a different personality on stage just to put on a show for the fans" Alice responded. 

Both Piers and Alice were intrigued by this new revelation about Steven, they decided to look more into the band that Steven was once a part of, The Blade Palace, apparently the band had only been active for two years before breaking up. They found a full documentary on Tubetube. "The Blade Palace, a band that broke up too soon, leaving behind a massive fanbase" The Narrator announced "Within the span of two months they had leaped from startup indie band to mainstream." "Wow, that's pretty impressive" Piers commented.

"The band consisted of four members" The Narrator continued "The lead first lead vocalist Xander "The King" King, bassist Iris "The Princess" Robinson, drummer Johnny "The Knight" Brown, who would later be replaced by the son of the Verner Records CEO, William Verner, whom fans referred to as "The Jester", but the most famous member of the band was their secondary lead singer and lead guitarist, "The Wizard" himself, Steven Universe" On screen was footage of Steven doing a solo on stage, glowing pink and levitating. This caught Piers's eye, his dad only glowed pink like that when he felt disturbed, did has father force himself to feel bad on stage or was this an outlet for his powers?

The documentary than cut to an interviewer with three people in the room, the three people were the original members of the band, one of them was in a wheelchair. "So, could you tell us what really made the band break up?" The Interviewer asked "some fans say it was because of the drummer who replaced Brown over here." "Yeah, Will, or "Little Willy", as we liked to call him when he wasn't listening was kind of an &*@#hole, but he wasn't the complete cause" Xander said "we hit mainstream to fast and well that jump from indie to mainstream had it's stressful moments, Will threw gas on that fire." 

"As fans already know, they had to replace me because of my accident" Johnny said "at the time I was also unable to move my arms but unlike my legs, my arms healed, but it's thanks to that accident that I don't drink anymore." "Yeah, you really did have a problem back then didn't you?" Iris said jokingly. "Oh, do shut up" Johnny fired back.

"In any case, It's a shame "The Wizard" couldn't make it here, Xander, you tried to contact him about this interview, is that correct?" The Interviewer asked. "Yeah, I did, he wasn't interested, sorry about that, but I do meet up with him a lot, he lives the quiet life now, a wife, two kids, and a big beach house, he's pretty much set for life" "This must have been made before The Twins were born" Alice commented. 

"So, what was he like off-stage?" The Interviewer asked. "He was the most chill guy you ever met" Johnny said. "Yeah, he may have gotten more fame than the rest of us, but we just couldn't get mad at him" Iris added "he was just that nice." "Yeah, not much ticked him off" Xander said "until William went on one of his rants about how he's not famous enough, this time he started blaming Steven and went a wee bit too far" Xander said "at that point, Steven nearly lost it and almost pulverized him, but he stopped himself and stormed out of the hotel room"

* * *

Back on Homeworld, Rose and Selena were visiting Yellow Diamond. "Oh Rose, to what do I owe the pleasure" Yellow Diamond greeted. Rose noticed slight tears on Yellow Diamond's face. "Were you crying?" Rose asked. Yellow Diamond quickly wiped away her tears "Wha-what? err, no, no I wasn't" Yellow Diamond said. "Great Aunt Yellow, I know what happened to you...are you sure you're okay?" Rose asked.

"You've become much more perceptive since the last time we talked" Yellow Diamond admitted "I'll admit, I am shaken up from what happened with the Gembusters, but they bought up good points, me, Blue, and White, we caused a lot of damage and destroyed the homes of billions." Rose leaped up to Yellow Diamond's shoulder and gave Yellow Diamond a hug. "You were always such a sweetheart, Rose" Yellow Diamond said. "Oh, hey it looks like you've been working on something" Rose pointed out. "I am trying to figure out a way to rejuvenate colonized worlds, make them habitable for organic life once more, and try to recreate the organic lifeforms that I made go extinct." "Wow, how is that going?" Rose asked. "I'm still trying to figure out how to do it...I'm running out of ideas..." Yellow Diamond admitted.

"Why don't you try looking for residual DNA?" Selena said. "Who are you?" Yellow Diamond asked, just now noticing Selena. "That's Selena, you've met her at that party two years ago, and she's right, try looking for DNA, it can be found in stuff like toenails, hair...if you can find the remains of any organic lifeforms, depending on how well preserved they are, you can clone them back from extinction" Rose suggested. "Deoxyribonucleic acid, now why didn't I think of that!" Yellow Diamond said "I'm sorry Rose, but I must cut this meeting short, I have a lot of research to redo!"

Rose gave Selena a high five for that suggested. "So, there's just one more member of Dad's family I want you to meet, Great Grandma White!" Rose said. At the back of the Diamond Palace was White Diamond's Room. "Ah, Rose and guest, welcome" White Diamond said. Selena was more shy to meet White Diamond than any other of the Diamonds "Come on in, human guest, all are welcome in here" White Diamond said. Selena feeling more assured allowed herself into White Diamond's room.

"Hey, Great Grandma, do the thing!" Rose said. "I beg your pardon?" White Diamond responded. "Come on, you know, the thing!" Rose insisted. "Oh ho, that, yes, well, have you been a good girl?" White Diamond inquired. "Of course I have" Rose said. "Are you sure? I heard from Yellow that you threw a party without anyone's permission" White Diamond teased. "Great Granny, that was two years ago!" Rose argued out of embarrassment. "Oh very well, I can't say "no" to that face" White Diamond said, trying not to giggle. 

White Diamond closed her eyes as the room began flashing different colors, Selena began noticing that Rose's tiny deformed gem began to glow bright, as the sequence ended, Selena noticed White Diamond was different shades of pink all over. "Hey, Selena!" Rose's voice said, coming from both Rose's and White Diamond's mouths, White Diamond also seemed to move in sync with Rose. "Look at me, I'm a former intergalactic tyrant! Out of the way!" Rose said controlling White Diamond. "Oh my gosh! I don't believe it!" Selena said in amazement.

"Hey, wait, take your phone out and play "Your love keeps lifting me!" and pose like the Empire Statue!" Selena suggested. Rose immediately knew what she meant, as she took out her phone and held it up like a torch as the song was playing and she slowly began marching. Soon both girls couldn't control themselves and started laughing, as White regained control of herself. "Oh my, what fun, was that a reference to a movie or something?" White asked. "You know what movies are?" Selena asked. "Various aspects of Earth entertainment have made their way here, I've even seen a few movies made right here on Homeworld, but never one made on Earth" White explained. "They even have internet out here now" Rose added "we can access Webpix."

"How about we see the movie you were referencing" White suggested. "You mean Spirit Catchers 2?" Rose asked. "Oh, this is part of a series? Than let's watch all of them" White Diamond answered. "Movie marathon on another planet!" Rose and Selena cheered.

end of chapter


	4. They're Here

Joshua had returned home with Margaret, he had ordered pizza from Fish Stu Pizza for dinner. "Might I have another section of this amazing flavor disk?" Margaret asked. "Sure, and it's called "pizza" by the way" Joshua said. "I overheard you and the doctor speaking" Margaret said "about how you "adopted" me? What does that mean?" "It basically means your under my care as if your were my own kid" Joshua answered. "Does that mean your now my new father?" "Pretty Much, that okay with you?" "I think it's much better than my initial reason for coming over to you, It's just that you're as tall as I am, I didn't realize you much older than me" Margaret admitted. 

* * *

Out in the grasslands near Beach City, Steven, Connie, Lapis, Bismuth, Garnet, Amethyst and Peridot were searching high and low for Brr'akid and F'loruz, the two Gembusters on earth who are planning a rendevious with a group of Gembusters called "The Bloodrose Brigade". They were checking every boulder because Brr'akid could have disguised himself as one, and Peridot was scanning her surroundings because F'loruz had the ability of camouflage.

"Hey Peridot, any luck?" Bismuth called out. "Nope, whoever these lifeforms are, they are good at hiding" Peridot answered "still though, the idea that these two would be able to camouflage themselves, I can't believe Rose of all people was the one to come up with it." "Yeah, normally that girl's not the sharpest tool in the shed" Bismuth said with a hearty chuckle. "Human's do change as they get older" Lapis commented "I remember when Steven was a lot more fun." "Hey, I'm still fun!" Steven said defensively. Peridot, Bismuth and Lapis all laughed, even Steven himself couldn't help but join in.

"So, I heard you talking with Piers, this morning" Connie said. "Oh, yeah that, Piers came across the album I made back when I was with Blade Palace" Steven explained. "Oh, wow I almost forgot about that, I still can't believe you were in a heavy metal band even though we were just dating at the time" Connie said "He didn't ask about how you guys broke up, did he?" "Well he did, I just told him I didn't want to talk about it" Steven said.

Connie remembered that fateful day when the band broke up...

* * *

*19 years ago*

It was a rainy evening in Empire City. Connie was driving back from work when she noticed a pink streak of light flying out of the window on the top floor of a nearby hotel, the pink streak of light than hopped off the rooftops of nearby buildings. It was than that Connie remembered that Steven and his band were in Empire City today. Connie pulled over and took out her phone, she tried to call Steven, but no answer. She than called one of Steven's bandmates. "Xander, are you there?" Connie asked over the phone. "Connie? Is that you?" Xander's voice asked "thank goodness it's you, I take it you saw Steven leap out the window?" 

"Yes, I did, what happened?" Connie asked. "Remember that asinine moron we replaced our original drummer with?" Xander answered "Well this time, he really went too far, a few minutes back he went on one of his usual rants about how unpopular he was compared to the rest of the band and blamed us for it...and this time he targeted Steven more than anyone else." "Oh no, I don't like where this is going..." Connie said, sounding more concerned than she already was. "Yeah, at first Steven was trying to calm him down but Little Willy started cranking up the verbal abuse, he threw a couple of verbal low blows his way...I don't even want to repeat what he said to him" Xander said with a shudder "Yeh, it got to the point where he said some pretty snide comments about Steven's half gem lineage, and that was what set Steven off, Steven had him against the wall before anyone could blink, he stopped himself though" 

"Is that when he jumped out the window" Connie asked. "Nope, Steven managed to calm himself down, and Willy, being the narcissistic idiot he is, just had to defend his pride and made a comment about his mum" Xander said. Connie gasped at that, while Steven never had any closure about what he felt about his mother, it was still a sore spot for him. "He began glowing pink again, but me, taking pity on Little Willy, stood in Steven's way...than he jumped out..." Xander continued. "I saw which direction he went" Connie said "I'm going to go get him." "Steven's a lucky man to have a gal like you" Xander commented.

Connie saw a pink light coming from a nearby alleyway. She got out of her car and ran into the alleyway and saw Steven, sitting in a small impact crater with an overturned dumpster next to him, quietly crying. "Steven!" Connie called out "Steven, It's me!" Steven said nothing. "Steven, I heard about what happened" Connie said. "I...I lost control..." Steven said "I...I thought I was over all that, I thought I finally had everything under control...but look at me!" Steven sobbed. "Steven, it's okay to be upset" Connie said, placing a hand on his shoulder "you know this, if something upsets you or makes you angry, it's okay to express it." "But I...I almost...I could have" Steven stammered. "But you didn't Steven, you stopped yourself before you could hurt him" Connie assured him. "But what about next time? Next time I could really lose control...I-I don't want to hurt anybody!" Steven said breaking down. Connie hugged Steven. "And you're not going to" Connie said "come with me Steven, my apartment's only a few blocks away." "No...just leave me" Steven said. "Steven, I'm not going anywhere unless you go with me" Connie said "you'll catch cold if you stay out in the rain like that, so come on, come home with me, please, for me?" "...alright" Steven said. Steven stopped glowing pink as Connie helped him off the ground and he followed her to her car.

* * *

Back at the Beach House, the warp pad on the Diamond Base flashed and Rose and Selena appeared. Rose decided to cap off their date by escorting Selena home. "So, what'd you think of Homeworld?" Rose asked. "It was amazing, so many gems I haven't even seen before" Selena said "thanks for showing me, I was so nervous around the Diamonds though." "Well, they seemed to like you, especially Yellow, you seemed to have gotten her out of a big slump" Rose said "so, Senior Job Shadow week is coming up next month, who will you be shadowing?" "I'm shadowing your grandma, I've been interested in becoming a gem hybrid specialist like she is" Selena said. "Is it because of me?" Rose asked.

"Well, you're part of the reason, but when I first came here to Beach City, when I first saw gems, I was amazed, even more so when I found out about hybrids, aliens and humans living together, it was like something out of my favorite sci-fi manga, I didn't even know you were a hybrid when I first met you" Selena explained. "Yeah, my gem is pretty small, It does look like a piercing, doesn't it?" Rose commented "but anyways, that's a rather profound reasoning for job shadowing, me, I'm just going to job shadow the manager of the community theater, he's my dad's former mailman." 

The two girls continued their walk to Selena's house when they noticed two figures on the Beach's edge, two very familiar figures. "It's Brr'akid and F'loruz!" Rose whispered. "The two gembusters your parents are looking for? What are they doing here!?" Selena whispered back. "I think my theory of them disguising themselves was correct, Mom and Dad must have been looking in the wrong places" Rose suspected. "What do we do?" Selena asked. "You call my parents, I got to watch them, I need to know what they're up to" Rose whispered sounding heroic. Rose and Selena hid behind nearby rocks.

"They should be here any second now" Brr'akid said "there they are!" Brr'akid pointed at the sky, as five shooting stars appeared in the sky. They came closer and closer until five spherical pods fell towards the beach, making dust clouds shaped like blossoming roses upon impact. The five pods opened in unison. A speaker came out from the middle pod and played a heroic sounding song.

Out of the pod on the far left came a humanoid insect lifeform that somewhat resembled a cockroach with four muscular arms and two muscular legs wearing a red variant of the Gembuster Uniform. "The strong roots which build a strong foundation, I! am! Tho'rax!" The humanoid insect said while striking poses similiar to that of a bodybuilder. Out of the pod on the far right came a humanoid avian lifeform resembling a falcon, wearing the exact same uniform as Tho'rax "The elegant petals that catches everyone's eye, I! am! Robyne!" The humanoid avian said, striking elegant poses. Slithering out of the pod on the middle left came a purple blob, wearing a red belt. "The leaves that keep the flower balanced, I! am! Plasm!" The blob said while morphing into different shapes and forms. Out of the pod on the middle left came an orange humanoid dragon the size of a ten year old boy, also wearing a red variant of the Gembuster uniform. "The thorns that drive away attackers, I! am! Junior!" The Dragon said striking poses like a super hero. And out of the middle pod came a human like figure wearing a helmet with a pink visor that covered the entire head, wearing the same red colored Gembuster uniform, but with a cape and no right sleeve, revealing a mechanical arm. "The mighty stem that holds it all together, Captain! Bloodrose!" The mysterious figure said, striking poses that Selena and Rose recognized from their favorite localized live action Japanese show: Force Squad.

"And together we are..." The group said as they all came together for a group pose "...The Bloodrose Brigade!" At that point the theme music ended. F'loruz was stunned for a moment. "Yeah, they do that...just clap" Brr'akid whispered. Brr'akid and F'loruz both clapped. "We're glad you could make it, I am sorry you had to come all this way" Brr'akid apologized. "Worry not, this is merely a job that only we can handle, calling us was not a criticism on your skill" Captain Bloodrose said. "We'll leave you to it, then" Brr'akid said.

Brr'akid and F'loruz went near the shore. "Are you sure these guys are the Bloodrose Brigade? They seem kind of dorky" F'loruz said. "They may be dorky but they're also good at what they do, trust me, I've seen them in action once" Brr'akid assured him. Brr'akid and F'loruz pushed buttons on their belts as mini rockets formed around their bodies and took off. The Bloodrose Brigade than huddled like a football team before a big match, Rose and Selena couldn't make out what they were whispering. They than started jogging in place "Who's the best! We're the best! Heroes of Truth and Justice! Take down Justice's foes! Gooooo Bloodrose!" They chanted, while raising one hand (or slimy digit in Plasm's case) in the air.

They soon dispersed. Junior and Robyne flew off to the east, Captain Bloodrose dashed off to the west, while Plasm transformed into a cheetah-like creature and dashed off to the south west. Tho'rax however stayed put. His antennae were flickering up in the air. 

"I know you are there" Tho'rax said "I can sense you." Selena gulped. "You stay here" Rose told her "I'll take care of the big bad bug."

End of chapter 


	5. Tho'rax The Untouchable

"Come on out from hiding" Tho'rax said "I can sense you." Rose knowing it was hopeless to keep hiding, decided to reveal herself. "Hey-hey! Uh...nice night out, huh? Uh, I didn't see you there. What's uh, what's up?" Rose said nervously. "Well met worthy opponent!" The humanoid cockroach responded, taking a battle stance similiar to one out of Alley Brawler. "Wh-what? Opponent? No, I'm just a good ol' native to this planet, human being" Rose said. "You are indeed a human, but also I detect a small hint of gem-like power residing within you" Tho'rax said "I wish to test your skills in combat!"

"Alright buddy, I was hoping to avoid this but if you want a fight you got one!" Rose said. Rose readied herself for battle. "Halt!" Tho'rax commanded "before we do battle, it is customary on my planet that two warriors must exchange their hive's war dances before sparring, since I issued the challenge I shall go first!" Before Rose could say anything, Tho'rax began what appeared to be a strange form of jazzercise with lots of flexing. Rose was so befuddled by this display that she could not, for the life of her, figure out what he was doing.

He went on with his weird dance for a few minutes and than stopped "The war dance has concluded, I've shown you mine, now show me yours". Rose felt like she was put on the spot so suddenly but she had a feeling she had to play along. Rose decided to wing it and danced the way she would in the arcade, playing Viva La Dance Revolution! when she finished Tho'rax simply nodded. "That dance was very sloppy but acceptable, now we do battle, since you are the one being challenged, you may make the first attack" Tho'rax said with a bow. He was awfully polite for a Gembuster.

Rose summoned her shield and threw it at Tho'rax, who grabbed the shield, spun around and threw back, like an Olympian discus thrower. The shield hit her on the gut, she lost her balance for almost a moment but regained it just in time to see this big bipedal bug rushing towards her. Rose quickly remembered the times she had fused with her girlfriend, as Roselena she learned to strategize based on her opponents movements, Rose decided to incorporate that part of her fusion while not fused. "It appears he's going to attack with his left arms, so I'll dodge to the right" Rose thought to herself.

When Tho'rax got close enough, Rose leaped to the right, but the instant her feet got off the ground, she felt a fist hit her on the side of her torso, she was sent right into the sand. "Wha-what?" Rose said. Rose thought she had timing correctly, but this alien cockroach moved as if it knew what would happen to him the instant before it happened. Rose got up and tried to punch Tho'rax, but Tho'rax bent over backwards, seconds before her fist could make contact, she suddenly felt his knee hitting her stomach. Tho'rax tried to punch her but Rose instinctively remembered when she would occasionally join in her mother's training with Pearl, in this instant it was the judo training. She quickly grabbed his arm and flung him over her head, but while in midair Tho'rax grabbed Rose's hair, landed on his feet and threw her over his head.

Rose continued to try and attack Tho'rax but Tho'rax was always one step ahead, with a strong counter attack. Rose was soon covered head to toe in scrapes and bruises. She tried staggering towards Tho'rax but Selena quickly rushed out and grabbed her. "Rose, babe, stop it! Stop it! Please!" Selena pleaded. "Come on...I still got some fight in me..." Rose moaned. "Listen to your mate, young female, you have lost this battle, you are indeed powerful, had my senses not been better than yours, you could have won this battle, but that was not to be, now I must go" Tho'rax said, as he began walking west. 

"Hey, where're yeh goin' it ain't Oh-hovvvver" Rose moaned as she started to collapse. Selena caught her just in time. "Oh no, Rose, Rose!" Selena shouted in horror. She seemed to be breathing so she was just unconscious but still, Selena was horrified, she didn't have a first aid kit on her or anything, instead she took out her cellphone to call help. Before she could even dial, she saw Rose's parents rushing over.

"Selena, sorry we're late" Connie called out. "Thanks for letting us know you found those two-" Steven said before noticing his unconscious daughter in her girlfriend's arms. "Oh my god, what happened!?" Steven and Connie said at the exact same time. "I-I'm sorry, she told me to wait behind the rocks...I-I" Selena stammered. "It's alright, It's not your fault" Steven said "she's going to be fine, trust me." "Huh? What happened? Where's the bug guy?" Rose said, slowly regaining consciousness. "It's alright, sweetie, I'm here" Steven said. Steven had his lips pursed, ready to heal her. "Ah! No! Dad, not in front of my girlfriend!" Rose said blushing. "Well, do you want to be sore all night?" Steven asked rhetorically. "Well...no" Rose said. Steven than kissed his daughter on the forehead and all her wounds disappeared as if they were never there at all.

Selena still looked concerned, she hoped she'd be alright. "Yeah, when we found those two Gembuster guys those four pods came from the sky and-" Rose began. "How about we save that for the morning, Rose, you've been through enough tonight" Steven suggested. Connie than noticed Selena's concern. "If you're worried about Rose, you're welcome to stay with us tonight" Connie offered. "Really? Thanks, I'll just let my mom know" Selena said.

* * *

In the skies above Beach City, The Bloodrose Brigade members, Robyne and Junior were discussing something. "So, you remember what I told you about the captain, right?" Robyne asked. "Yeah, I remember, if he starts behaving eratically, I'll take Cap'n Dad to a safe place" Junior said "but Cap'n Dad's just so stoic, I can't see him going insane." "Just keep an eye on him, Junior" Robyne said in a concerned tone.

* * *

Deep in the forest around Beach City, Captain Bloodrose traversed through the area Jasper had deforested. "Hey you!" Jasper called out. Captain Bloodrose ignored her. "Hey! I'm talking to you!" Jasper shouted "Don't ignore me!" Jasper then spin dashed towards Captain Bloodrose. Captain Bloodrose simply outstretched his non mechanical palm and caught Jasper's spin dash, still spinning. Bloodrose's grip on Jasper's spin dash got tighter and tighter until he caught hold of a bunch of Jasper's hair, putting an end to the spin dash as she yelped in pain.

"You're not the gem I'm looking for, I'll deal with you later!" Captain Bloodrose said as he tossed her aside. "Hey, don't just casually toss me aside like that, fight me!" Jasper commanded. Captain Bloodrose continued walking away. "That's right, walk away, coward" Jasper said in an attempt to antagonize him. Jasper's attempt however, fell on deaf ears.

"Now to start looking" Captain Bloodrose said, surveying his surroundings "I know you're out here on this planet somewhere, and I will find you before it's too late." Captain Bloodrose than tightened his non mechanical fist, making a laser sword come out of the projector on the wrist of his gauntlet "The hunt is on..." 

End of episode 12 


	6. Meet The Bloodrose Brigade! (Character Bios)

The Bloodrose Brigade is the most famous faction of the Gembuster Army. Often hailed as the greatest heroes in the universe. They believe in the core values of justice and teamwork.

Tho'rax

Tho'rax is a Secterrian of the former planet Secterra. His species was eusocial, meaning that like ants, bees and wasps, they are all born from a single queen. Tho'rax is usually seen dancing but that's not because he likes dancing but rather, dancing was a language among his species, many hives had their own "dance dialect" Tho'rax can be rather straightforward with his speech, which some can find off putting. A traditionalist, he wishes to preserve the traditions of his planet, despite being the last of his kind.

He has super-sensitive sensory antennae, and compound eyes, like that of a housefly. These give him the ability to accurately determine what will happen to him the instant before it happens, this combined with his quick reflexes have earned him the nickname "Tho'rax the untouchable" (Author's note: Tho'rax was partially inspired by Buzzwole from the Pokemon franchise)

Robyne

Robyne, despite her name, actually resembles a humanoid falcon rather than a humanoid robin. She is an expert in long range combat, her eyesight is superior to that of a human's or an earth falcon or eagle. She has dead eye accuracy, able to hit a target five thousand miles away. She prefers to do her job with a sense of finesse. She was a co founder of the Bloodrose Brigade and prides herself on being Captain Bloodrose's first friend since he joined the Gembusters

Plasm

A living protoplasm, originally used for Gembuster experiments, he was freed by Captain Bloodrose when he noticed that Plasm was sentient. Plasm has rewritable DNA, allowing him not to just change his appearance but rather literally become any creature he can think of, this ability is usually used for espionage, spying on other gems, before the gem can notice something is off, it's already too late. (Partially inspired by Ditto of the Pokemon series)

Junior

Junior is Captain Bloodrose's adopted son. He was found as an egg next to his dead mother. He is a humanoid dragon, about the size of a ten year old kid. His wingspan is as long as Greg's van and is capable of reaching flight speeds approaching mach 1. He can breath fire, but that ability is still underdeveloped, he can mostly breath fire balls the size of basket balls rather than breath a whole stream of fire.

Captain Bloodrose

The leader and founder of the Bloodrose Brigade. Because his face is mostly hidden beneath his helmet, he is rather intimidating but his crew knows that underneath that helmet, he is actually a friendly guy and cares for the well-being of his team. He lost his arm at some point when he was younger and relies on a mechanical arm instead. 

Authors note: The Bloodrose Brigade was actually inspired by the Ginyu Force from Dragon Ball Z, in this chapter I wanted to recreate that scene when the Ginyu Force first arrived on Namek.


End file.
